Muscular Dystrophy

[lina.561]

Are there any nurses that can tell me how close we are by getting a cure for this?

I have a good friend who has this disease. He was my next door neighbor when I was young. He was in a wheel chair since 6th grade and he is fighting for his life at age 26. He has been resuscitated 3 to 4 times now. I see him often, and I really like the atmosphere there,there are alot of great nurses I met up with. I ask alot of questions, that maybe why I'm considering this career, I see what they do for my friend. But is there any way he could be saved right now?

[rachelgeorgina]

I work in paediatric pallitative care and unfortunately we see a lot of children, largely boys, with muscular dystrophy, suffer and die very early on in life due to their condition. I dont know how close a "cure" is, but I can tell you that muscular dystrophies are degenerative diseases that get progressively worse over time, eventually causing death. With some of the kids I've seen, 26 is a pretty brilliant age to get to!

[NurseCard, ADN]

I'm sorry about your friend. My best friend died in 2001 from a form of Muscular Dystrophy; it was terribly hard to see her suffer. My sympathy to you.

I'm afraid you probably won't find an answer to your question here, but I think many of us will understand where you are coming from, when you say that you are considering a career in nursing after watching the nurses who care for your friend....

[diane227, LPN, RN]

One of my best friends was recently diagnosed and he is near 70 in age. He is on medication but is not allowing anything else to be done. He has made his peace with God I suppose and will face what ever is coming. He is already having trouble swallowing. I know it won't be long.